


Give It All Away

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Series: Back to the Beginning [5]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:47:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27355984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: “I should go,” Neil said, his voice trembling.  “I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”“Nonsense,” Renee said.  “This isn’t trouble.”“We should let him—” Erik started.“No,” Renee interrupted.  “You weren’t here.  You did not help raise our sons.  We taught them to help people in need.  We are not sending Neil away without hearing his story.”
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick & Aaron Minyard & Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick & Renee Walker, Nicky Hemmick/Erik Klose
Series: Back to the Beginning [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1177706
Comments: 6
Kudos: 84
Collections: Twinyards Appreciation Week 2020





	Give It All Away

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Twinyards Appreciation Week for day 4: exchange.

Nicky froze, staring at Erik with his mouth open. He was vaguely aware of Andrew carefully talking Neil through his panic attack. Renee moved to his side, her steady presence the only thing keeping him from falling into a panic attack of his own.

Aaron glared fiercely at Erik. “I don’t know who you are or why you think we should trust that you are telling the truth,” he growled.

“Aaron,” Renee admonished him gently.

“What,” Aaron complained. “Neil is Andrew’s friend, and he’s not trying to kiss Dad and break up a marriage.” He glared pointedly at Erik as he spoke.

Renee ruffled Aaron’s hair gently. “It’s sweet that you’re protecting me but I don’t need it. Nicky and I are best friends but it has never been romantic between us. We were planning to tell you before we reunited with Erik, and give you some time to get used to the idea.”

Aaron hugged her around the waist. “I don’t want anything to change,” he whispered.

Neil’s breathing began to slow and Andrew stepped away from him to clean up the broken glass.

“I should go,” Neil said, his voice trembling. “I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”

“Nonsense,” Renee said. “This isn’t trouble.”

“We should let him—” Erik started.

“No,” Renee interrupted. “You weren’t here. You did not help raise our sons. We taught them to help people in need. We are not sending Neil away without hearing his story.”

Andrew was usually far less physically demonstrative than his brother, but at her words, he buried his head in her shoulder and clung to her arm.

“First things first,” Renee said, “when do we die?”

“Not for another week and a half,” Erik said. “I tried to come back earlier so we had more time to prepare, but any farther and I would not have been able to close the wormhole behind me.” 

Nicky reached for Erik’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

“Then we have time,” Renee said. “We shouldn’t panic. We should listen to what Neil has to say and decide our next steps from there. Andrew, make Neil another cup of tea.”

Andrew let go of her and added more water to the kettle, Neil following him like a shadow. Renee left them to it and pulled Aaron, still clinging to her waist, into the living room. Erik and Nicky sat on the loveseat, Nicky curled into Erik’s side, while Renee and Aaron took the couch.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the little noises Andrew and Neil made as they moved around the kitchen, until the boys followed them in and sat together in the overstuffed armchair in the corner.

“What else do you know, Erik?” Renee asked gently.

“Just what was reported in the papers,” Erik said. “A family of four had been killed in a home invasion. At first, they thought it was a burglary gone wrong, but then the police started looking deeper. Some of Aaron and Andrew’s classmates mentioned that a boy named Neil Josten had been staying with you for a few days and he had been taken by whoever killed you. When the police dug deeper, they discovered he was actually a boy named Nathaniel Wesninski, son of the Butcher of Baltimore.”

Nicky’s hand tightened involuntarily. It wasn’t fair that his cousins always had to live a life marked by tragedy.

Neil began to panic again, breathing heavily and pressing his face into Andrew’s shoulder. Before he got himself under control, he pulled away and tried to stand, his legs collapsing underneath him. “I’ll go,” he said, barely audible through tears. “I won’t tell them anything when they find me.”

“We’re not making you leave, idiot,” Andrew growled, glaring around the room at everyone, daring them to say anything different.

“Andrew...” Nicky started without knowing how he was going to finish the sentence.

“Nicky,” Renee interrupted him before he could decide. “Andrew is right.”

“We came back to save them,” Nicky protested. “I don’t want to put them in danger.”

“You should let me go,” Neil said, looking far older than his fifteen years. “My father really is the Butcher of Baltimore. My mom took me and ran from him five years ago. You don’t want to get dragged into this. He’s killed people for much less.”

“Why aren’t you with your mother?” Nicky asked.

Neil looked hesitantly at Andrew. Andrew nodded back. Neil rolled up his long sleeves to reveal fresh cigarette burns layered over old scars. “She loves me,” he said. “I know she does, but I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Fuck,” Nicky said. His mind wasn’t in their living room anymore. It was twenty years in the past, five years in the future, seeing the scars of abuse on Aaron, on Andrew, as their bodies lay still and cold in the morgue. “Neil, we’re not letting you go back to that.”

“What?” Erik protested. “You have to. You’re going to die if you don’t.”

“We’re not letting that happen either,” Nicky said firmly. “Renee and I packed up our lives a long time ago to save Andrew and Aaron, even though we knew there was no going back. We can do it again.”

Andrew looked at him, eyes wide. “Really?” he asked.

“You’re my son,” Nicky said. “I would give up anything for you.”

“Nicky, think about this,” Erik pleaded.

“Erik, I love you,” Nicky said. “Will you save a life with me?”

Erik looked conflicted for another moment but nodded. “I left everything behind for you too. I’ll support you.”

“Good,” Renee interrupted. “Now that is settled. It’s time to make a plan.”


End file.
